Same-Sex Marriage Plaintiffs Separate

By KATIE ZEZIMA

Published: July 22, 2006

The lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit that made same-sex marriage legal in Massachusetts have separated, their spokeswoman said Friday.

The couple, Julie and Hillary Goodridge, separated after nearly two decades together, including just over two years of marriage, the spokeswoman, Mary Breslauer, said.

''They are amicably living apart,'' Ms. Breslauer said. ''Plaintiff couples, even those who have that kind of spotlight, have real lives, and they're not immune from the ups and downs and stresses that any relationship faces.''

The couple and their daughter, Annie, 10, became spokeswomen of sorts for same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, making their lives public in an effort to show that they were like any other couple who wanted to marry.

The women were married in a ceremony jammed with family, friends and reporters on May 17, 2004, the day same-sex marriage became legal in the state. They wore Armani pantsuits and kissed under a shower of rainbow streamers.

Ms. Breslauer said neither woman had filed for divorce. Bay Windows, a weekly gay and lesbian newspaper, first reported the news.

The Goodridges and six other couples filed the lawsuit, Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, in 2001 after being denied marriage licenses. The case made its way to the state's highest court, which ruled in November 2003 that the Massachusetts Constitution guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marry. Despite Gov. Mitt Romney's efforts to stop them, the first same-sex marriages took place six months later.

More than 8,000 same-sex couples had married in Massachusetts as of May, said Carisa Cunningham, a spokeswoman for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, which argued the case. A Boston Globe survey this year said that about 45 of those couples had divorced.

Ms. Cunningham said the other plaintiff couples remained married.

Ms. Breslauer said the Goodridges' separation was part of the nature of relationships.

''This is the maturation of marriage,'' Ms. Breslauer said. ''They made an enormous contribution toward marriage equality, as did the other plaintiff couples. This in no way diminishes their contribution.''